Demon Slayer: Equilibrium (An OC Story)

Final Selection Part 2. Teetering Scale

Author's Note: This is gonna be a long one.

Wisteria trees lined the shoulders of the path that led up to where Yuraki needed to be. No, he longed to be. The petals fluttered down into his hair like a purple rain and the light of the sun bounced off the trees making the lighting of the path look beautiful but ominous at the same time. The wisteria is what kept demons away which is why there was so much. Yuraki sensed all kinds of auras around him when he finished climbing the stairs, he even saw someone he knew. 'Oh it's Kanao. I thought Kocho said she couldn't become a slayer.' Yuraki thought to himself. Kanao was the Insect Hashira's Tsuguko and Yuraki's close friend. He also sensed another familiar presence, it was the Serpent Hashira's Tsuguko, Haruka. He didn't see him directly but they knew that he was nearby. He decided not to distract them but it was comforting that they were there too. He also noticed a boy with a fox mask, similar to him. He figured that was the student of Giyu's mentor that Giyu had spoken to them about. Then suddenly there was a clapping and the proctors of the exam were before them. Yuraki listened intently as they explained what they were to do. Survive seven grueling days on this mountain, outside of the safe haven of the wisteria where demons made their wretched homes. This did not scare Yuraki as he unsheathed his sword slightly, grinning and feeling the thrill of going out and slaying demons himself. The participants were then left to wander the mountain. The purple glow of the wisteria fell behind Yuraki as he left the safety of it, going to where the demons would surely be prowling. The moment he got far enough from the wisteria he heard cries and screams in all directions. They were too far for Yuraki to pinpoint until one blood-curdling scream was uttered extremely close by. He ran to where the sound was coming from, a large tree where a blonde boy was cowering with his tears drenching the bark. He didn't seem physically injured from what Yuraki saw but he decided to ask anyway, "Are you okay? Hey, are you injured?" The boy turned to look at him and as he did his expression morphed into one of terror, "F-F-FOX MONSTER!" He screamed, burying his face back into the tree. Yuraki turned around thinking the boy meant a demon but there was nothing. 'What?' He thought, before turning back to the shuddering blonde. "Don't eat me! Please! I swear I wouldn't taste good!" It was only then that it occurred to Yuraki that he was talking about him and his fox mask. He took the mask off and kneeled next to him, "Hey, it's just a mask. I'm human, see? My name is Yuraki Tomioka. What's your name?" "Y-You're human? Thank goodness. My name's Zenitsu Agatsuma and well, you gotta help me!" Yuraki tilted his head as he stood up straight. "Help you? You mean to say you wanna tag along with me?" Zenitsu nodded feverishly, "Please! I don't wanna be alone on this stupid mountain!" Yuraki thought about it for a moment before reaching his hand out to Zenitsu, "Get up then, and you better keep up with me. If you want my help then stay close." Zenitsu grabbed his hand and stood up before Yuraki placed his mask back on his face and turned to look at the horizon. "Let's go."

The odd pair survived the first two days but it was the third that truly gave them trouble. That was when Yuraki learned the truth about Zenitsu. "You, WHAT?!" Yuraki whisper-shouted. "I can't successfully use a breathing technique." Zenitsu sobbed quietly. "There is a huge demon right there and you expect me to go fight it on my own. Why are you even here if you can't?!- Forget it, I'm going in." Yuraki stood up silently and walked up to the demon, its eyes narrowing at him and its gaping maw drooling as if Yuraki was going to be its afternoon snack. Even hunched over, it was much bigger than Yuraki was, it lurched towards him a little before Yuraki put his hand on his sword. It must have seen this as an opening and charged towards Yuraki. He readied a Water Breathing form and prepped to swipe but he was too slow and the demon scooped him up in its claws. 'Dang it! Why won't this work!?' He yelled internally. Yuraki turned his focus to Zenitsu who had fainted and turned his attention back to the demon, 'I can't let him be found! I need to do something!' Yuraki gripped his sword and tried to think of a new strategy but the demon clenched him in his fist, crushing him. He screamed in pain before he heard a crackling sound. It was almost like the crackling of lightning. It was all so quick because now Yuraki was on the ground, the demon's arm falling with him and Zenitsu was in front of him. "That's Thunder Breathing...! His aura has completely changed." He thought before he realized the demon's hand was still touching him, "Ew ew!" He shouted, throwing it away from himself. Zenitsu said nothing and slashed the other arm off only for it to regenerate almost instantaneously. Yuraki then noticed a sound that almost sounded like soft snoring and that Zenitsu had not opened his eyes since he got up. "There's no way that he's asleep right now right?" He questioned. Yuraki ran around him to look at him and he was indeed asleep. He did not know how and he had no time to dwell on it. As he stopped to think the demon swiped Zenitsu knocking him hard into the tree. He was greatly wounded from the blow and Yuraki couldn't run to assist him. Instead, he switched gears and jumped up into a tree, standing on a thick branch, and glared down at the demon. 'I need to balance my emotions. Balance my breathing, it'll be fine. Let's do this!' He thought as he dove off of the tree. "Balance Breathing, Third Form: Tipping Point." As Yuraki went down he diced through the demon's torso, causing it to disintegrate and leave this earthly plane. Yuraki tumbled to the ground, scraping his legs in the process. When he hit the ground he heard Zenitsu's voice shriek, "Why am I bleeding?! Am I dead?!" Yuraki groaned and brought his face out of the dirt, "No. We're alive. The demon's dead." You did it?! Oh, I thought we were done for!" Yuraki looked at him with annoyance, 'I can't even say "no thanks to you" because he did technically save me. He doesn't even though he did though!' He thought as he forced himself up. Yuraki then walked over to Zenitsu, "Come on, let me patch you up." He said, unwrapping his bandage roll.